Description

Jack The Ripper, serial killer, the most infamous unsolved American Murder of 1900's was Atlanta's Ripper, this reign of crime was an unidentified serial killer of at least fifteen Atlanta women in 1911. On May 28, 1911, the body of Belle Walker, an African-American cook, was found 25 yards from her home on Garibaldi Street in Atlanta. Her throat had been cut by an unknown slayer, and the crime was reported in the Atlanta Constitution under the headline "Negro Woman Killed; No Clue to Slayer.

On June 15, another black woman, Addie Watts, was found with her throat slashed, followed on June 27 by Lizzie Watkins. The search for the serial killer, called "the Atlanta Ripper" by the press, found six different suspects, but no convictions were ever made, nor was the crime ever solved. By the end of 1911, fifteen women, all black or dark-skinned, all in their early 20s, had been murdered in the same manner. The "Ripper" may have had as many as 21 victims, but there is no conclusive proof that the murders were carried out by one person.
Each murder attributed to the killer occurred on a Saturday night, and for one terrifying spring in 1911, a fresh body turned up every Sunday morning. Amid a stifling investigation, slayings continued until 1915. As many as six men were arrested for the crimes, but investigators never discovered the identity of the killer, or killers, despite having several suspects in custody.

The fact remains that the Atlanta Ripper murders are a mystery. Was it the work of one serial killer? If so, was he inspired (terrible choice of words I know, but need to make a point) by what he read of Jack the Ripper some decades earlier in London? Or were some of these killings the work of a copycat killer(s)???? This is a very interesting true crime story from right here in Georgia.
Guest, Mark Fults, Author
Host ~ Norene Sampiere Balovich